A real toughie next, we never really do well there and it seems both us and arsenal are not playing that well, to be expected at the seasons start I suppose.
Hendos touch and go, studge is out and Firmino doesnt look to be up to speed yet, however as much as we have to watch sanchez and carzorla I bet arsenal will be worried about benteke and coutinho, we can hurt them but for sure they can cause us problems too.
Id take a point at this stage of the season, however its not inconceivable we could win just unlikely; id give us a 50/50 shot IF we had studge and Firmino playing week in and out, maybe the return we can have this! If we stay tight like the first two games and play into benteke then I think we will fare much better than last season.
As a reminder last season we had hendo operating wide right, can right of a defensive three that inc toure and Sakho, lucas and allen in mf , moreno and markovic also played!!! Btw....can got sent off too.
I cant see BR making the same mistakes this time, we will definitely have a more balanced side going there this time and probably play with a bck four as in the first two games, mf is likely to be much better to with can and milner instead of allen and lucas....so there should be optimism! Of course we also have benteke leading the line as opposed to sterling.
So, bearing in mind the team we had last time vs the team we now have.....are we optimistic we can achieve a point or more?
Arsenal away then.
posted on 19/8/15
Also this new buzz word mentality is a load of nonsense. You lose more games against better teams as simply they're better teams. Nothing to do with mentality.
posted on 19/8/15
comment by #LiquidGenius (U20571)
posted 7 hours, 58 minutes ago
comment by Got_Better (U6241)
If u thini about, benteke vs mert and kos...I fancy that. He will bully them for sure. If we can get couts and whoever in support quickly then we could profit.
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Koscielny is statistically the best CB in the league, I don't think he can be bullied by any player tbh. Especially at the Emirates.
Mertesacker is very dominant in the air, which negates Big Ben's biggest strength. Mertesacker has also played in 3 World Cup Semi-Finals, a Euro Final, and a World Cup Final (as a sub), so he's very experienced & composed.
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I'm pretty sure you'll find that statistically, Lovren is the best defender in the league.
http://www.football-observatory.com/IMG/pdf/mr05_eng.pdf
Statistics
posted on 19/8/15
comment by Got_Better (U6241)
posted 8 hours, 14 minutes ago
Rambou...how does benteke normally fair vs arsenal, in his villa days??
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Villa haven't troubled us in recent years. The only time is the opening day of the 13/14 season which was similar to the West ham game just gone but other than that we always look comfortable against Villa
posted on 19/8/15
Igor .... nonsense . How have i overrated players by saying they are experienced? How the hell u can compare ilori tomoreno is beyond me; one is a europa up winner and used to high pressure situations the other a young lad.
ur the one looking silly.
posted on 19/8/15
they are both young lads
posted on 19/8/15
Moreno is more experienced than Ilori, but certainly you wouldn't describe either as experienced players.
Well, normal people wouldn't.
posted on 19/8/15
I wouldn't mind seeing Moreno in an advanced role for this game. He did well the other night when he came on as a sub, and he has the pace to trouble Arsenal's back line if he goes on one of his mazy runs cutting inside.
posted on 19/8/15
comment by Got_Better (U6241)
posted 12 hours, 53 minutes ago
Igor .... nonsense . How have i overrated players by saying they are experienced? How the hell u can compare ilori tomoreno is beyond me; one is a europa up winner and used to high pressure situations the other a young lad.
ur the one looking silly.
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I likened them because they share a characteristic, that, in your opinion is enough to make a player experienced.
If you lack the reading comprehension to realise this, there's very little point in continuing the debate.
Also, TOOR, if you truly believe that Mentality is utter nonsense, then explain why gifted players such as Hatem Ben Arfa and Adel Taraabt never went on to become the players their talent deserved, if not for mentality?
Why it took Arsenal, a team who played some of the best football the Premier League during the time, took near on a decade to win a trophy if not for a lack of winning mentality?
And finally why England, a team made up of above average to very good footballers, never amount to anything?
To say that mentality has nothing to do with football is laughably naiive.
posted on 19/8/15
Igor....seems your being incredibly uppity; so what is naiive. Really, if your incapable of writing in coherent sentences then please refrain from commenting.
posted on 19/8/15
comment by Got_Better (U6241)
posted 7 minutes ago
Igor....seems your being incredibly uppity; so what is naiive. Really, if your incapable of writing in coherent sentences then please refrain from commenting.
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Farking hell. Seriously? Captain Ellipses is criticising my grammar?
You realise I wasn't even calling you naiive, right?